I memorized most of these verses when I was in high school, after discovering their meaning at a seminar on self-esteem. They have changed my view of myself, of God and of everyone I’ve ever met. God has the final word on our intrinsic worth and He has assigned great value to us. Print a few off and put them on your mirror!

God chose me for His special and unique purpose.

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit— fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God made us according to His own good plans. I am not an accident. I am not a mistake.

Psalms 139: 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Even our handicaps are part of His plan

Exodus 4: 10 ¶ Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

1 Cor. 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

To reject ourselves makes it difficult to cooperate with God, since we mistrust Him at such a foundational level.

Isa. 29:16 You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing”?

Isa 45:9 “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd (a broken piece of pottery) among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? 10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’ 11 ¶ “This is what the LORD says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?12 It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.

Since we were made for God according to His own intentions, we can’t compare ourselves to someone else. God has other purposes for them.

Eph 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

2Co 10:12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

Outward appearance is of little importance to God

1Sa 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Prov 31:30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Isa 53:2 (this is speaking of Jesus’ plain appearance) He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

A tricky balance: To value ourselves and to be humble simultaneously…

OUR VALUE:

1 Cor 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Heb.2.:6 But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 7 You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor 8 and put everything under his feet.” In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.

OUR HUMBLE STATE:

1 Peter 1: 24 ¶ For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

Php 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Jas 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

We try to evaluate ourselves according to God’s perspective.

1 Cor 11: 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.

2 Co 10:18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends

Ro 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

Galatians 6: 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello, name is Anita.

I come from a background of gender identity issues and same-sex attractions, but God is teaching me how to walk in purity and joy. My desire is to encourage others who want to glorify God in their interpersonal relationships. I hope you find these articles helpful.

I call my site Freshwater, after the verse, "The LORD will guide you continually; and satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.." Isa 58:11